For a menswear brand like Canali, where excellence in fabrics, tailoring, and attention to details are at the core of their business, a runway show can be problematic. The nature of this sort of staging makes all those elements that much harder to appreciate.
But a year into his new job as creative consultant and designer for the family-run brand, Andrea Pompilio came up with an astute way to help his audience hone in on his work. At the same time as the models walked the catwalk, a kaleidoscope of different sized videos screens that lined the walls of the show venue generated close up, slow motion images of each ensemble.
In that way, the audience was able to appreciate the crisp beauty of a lilac organza safari jacket and the precision folds of its pockets. They could almost touch the spongy cotton terry cloth textured fabric used to craft a horizontally striped brown jacket or a short sleeve cream top. And all the show’s luxe suede briefcases proved to have a strokeable decadence at the heart of their design.
Pompilio also proved that he is plugged into what is trending in menswear. This was seen in his faux denim ensembles. A number of brands in Milan have been trying to trick their audiences by creating pieces that look like denim but are crafted out of jacquards or printed onto cotton. At Canali, the dark denim was crafted from a cool wool and linen blend, making it both urban and elegant.
This collection pushed the brand ever so gently. It clearly didn’t alienate its core customers, but it most certainly will convert a few new ones.
